Is there major league benefit to minor league baseball?

Daytona Beach City Manager James Chisholm is shown in the city's Jackie Robinson Ball Park. The city just signed a 10-year extension for the Daytona Beach Cubs to stay, in addition to approving renovations to the stadium.

Published: Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 10:20 p.m.

If the city of Ocala decides to help the Yankees move their Class A-Advanced minor league team here from Tampa, the decision will likely hinge on whether it is a good deal for the community.

But researchers say Ocala will have to look beyond the team's direct economic impact to make that decision because Minor League Baseball, in itself, does not generate a lot of jobs and doesn't attract millions of fans like a Major League team.

That doesn't mean Minor League Baseball can't be an economic driver, however.

A minor league stadium erected in the right location could revitalize an area or open up undeveloped land, both of which could be catalysts for new homes, businesses and jobs, researchers say.

And having a stadium and a baseball team like the Tampa Yankees could bring some cache to a town and engender civic pride that could be attractive to companies looking to relocate. At the very least, it could provide the community with new, affordable family entertainment and a venue for other events.

It is those ancillary benefits, researchers say, that may make a community's investment in Minor League Baseball worthwhile, even if it is not a big job creator or money-maker.

“You're never going to notice it's there economically,” said Roger Knoll, professor emeritus at Stanford University's Department of Economics. “It's too small and too unimportant. A Single A team is lucky if it draws 1,000 (fans) a game. It's not even as big as high school football.”

■ ■ ■

The Yankees and the city have been tight-lipped about their discussions to bring a farm team here. Ocala officials have said only that the talks are in the early stages. It is not known where a stadium would be built, who would pay for it or what other commitments of public dollars the Yankees would be asking for.

But Steve Densa, Minor League Baseball's executive director of communications, said when all the costs and benefits are calculated, minor league teams have a positive impact on communities.

“A MiLB (Minor League Baseball) club brings money to the area in the form of housing and/or hotel nights for the home club and the visiting one, coaches, scouts, umpires and various Major League personnel who visit each one of their affiliates during the season,” Densa wrote in an email. “There's also business generated for restaurants for these people as well. Other businesses may pop up around the ballpark, which may have not done so if there isn't a stadium. The ballpark is a community asset and can be used to attract other events throughout the year, such as concerts, fairs, holiday events, etc., that add to the quality of life of the community.”

Attendance at games alone is not a huge money maker, however.

The Tampa Yankees, like other Class-A minor league teams such as the Lakeland Flying Tigers and the Daytona Cubs, belong to the Florida State League. The Flying Tigers won the Florida State League's championship this year. Attendance at the final championship game at Lakeland's Joker Merchant Stadium, which holds 8,500 spectators, was 400 people.

“There were 398 and my wife and I,” said Bill Tinsley, the city of Lakeland's liaison to the Tigers and manager of financial resources. “The intent of minor league operations, typically, is that you don't lose money, that you break even and you provide some additional quality of life for your city.”

Breaking even, he admits, is no guarantee. There are considerable costs to a community, like the $35 million to $40 million price tag to build a minor league stadium

And Lakeland has an advantage that Ocala would not have if it landed the Tampa Yankees.

“We're so different because we have spring training, which kind of covers the bills,” Tinsley said. “Spring training is huge.”

The Yankees are not considering moving their Major League New York Yankees' spring training to Ocala.

Tinsley said Lakeland “pretty much” breaks even on Minor League Baseball. He said the team and the city share expenses. Lakeland estimates that each Flying Tigers game costs the city $145 for utilities and field maintenance.

The city receives 15 percent of ticket sales and 15 percent of concessions, or a minimum of $125 a game from the team.

A minor league ticket costs between $5 and $7, although on nights when a business sponsors a game, a ticket could cost as little as $2. And if Tinsley can rent the stadium when there are no games, he receives $150 or more a night. The Flying Tigers' total 2012 attendance was 59,589. It averaged 1,027 fans a game for the 58 games it played.

The Flying Tigers do not pay to use the stadium, but the big league team pays Lakeland $325,000 a year to use the stadium for spring training, which helps offset the costs of the minor league team.

Knoll, of Stanford, said the Lakeland model works because the city uses the stadium for events beyond baseball.

“There's no real return on that investment to the city itself unless it's going to use that facility for lots of other things,” Knoll said.

Knoll said that in Stockton, Calif., the stadium is used by the local high schools.

“It's used almost every day,” he said. “You don't do it because you think it will make you rich but because it will add to the community.”

■ ■ ■

Daytona Beach's Jackie Robinson Ballpark is home to the Daytona Cubs, another Class-A team that competes in the Florida State League.

“If you get the right kind of contract for the stadium, from the city's perspective it's a pretty good deal,” said James Chisholm, Daytona Beach's city manager. “It's been a pretty positive thing for us.”

He said Minor League Baseball creates about 126 jobs throughout the year and has roughly a $4 million economic impact in the community.

“The payroll for the Cubs is about $600,000,” Chisholm said. “That's money that gets put right back into Daytona Beach.”

The city signed a new 10-year lease with the Daytona Cubs effective Jan. 1, 2013, and plans to do a $3 million renovation of the stadium. The first phase of the renovation will cost $1.2 million, split equally between the city and the team.

Under the new lease, the D-Cubs, as the minor league team is dubbed, will pay the city $55,000 a year to use the stadium, which seats about 4,200 people, with a 1.5 percent annual increase. The city will get 5 percent of the annual gross revenues above $3 million, including ticket sales, concessions, parking fees, advertising, naming rights, subleases or licenses and merchandise sales. The team will pay the stadium expenses, including utilities and maintenance.

Until this year, the city paid the operating expenses, which were more than $100,000, Chisholm said. The city allows the team to rent the stadium during the offseason.

In 2012, the D-Cubs' total attendance was 143,131, or an average of 2,346 for 61 games, the second-highest attendance in the league.

An economic impact study conducted by Daytona officials before they signed the new lease estimated that attendance would increase 8 percent, to 176,023, by 2016. The study also noted that the team contributes to the community through charitable events and numerous programs, such as giving students one free ticket per “A” grade in the third and fourth quarters of the school year.

Yet Allen Sanderson, senior lecturer at the University of Chicago's Department of Economics, concurred with his academic colleagues who downplay the economics of minor league sports in communities.

Sanderson, who recently completed a study of sports economics, said having a Minor League Baseball team could put Ocala on the map but will not make much of an economic impact.

He said having a Minor League Baseball team is not very different from having a giant movie complex.

“The amount of money spent there by Ocala residents is just money they didn't spend elsewhere in your greater community,” he said.

One of the reasons the impact is small, he said, is that the baseball team plays there only part of the year, perhaps 70 games out of 365 days.

“A mall can't make it if it's open 20 percent of the time,” Sanderson said.

That doesn't mean a team doesn't have value to the community, he added. People like to live in cities because of the entertainment and recreation and other amenities, he said.

“A Minor League Baseball team fits into the fabric of the community,” he said. “It's one more thing for people to do on an afternoon.”

But claims that a community will make a bundle of money from a Minor League Baseball team are false, Sanderson said.

“A lot of times it's sold this way,” he said. “Keep your hands on your wallet.”

Arthur T. Johnson, University of Maryland's professor emeritus in the Fishell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland, says Minor League Baseball can be an economic driver for a community if it meets the community's strategic goals.

Johnson, who published his research on Minor League Baseball in 1996, found there are ways a community can benefit economically from Minor League Baseball. He is the author of the book “Minor League Baseball and Local Economic Development.”

“If it's going to be a successful economic driver, the location of the stadium is going to be very important,” Johnson said. “Communities have used the stadium to bolster a dying downtown or as part of a redevelopment project or to open new lands for development.”

He said a stadium could be used as an entry point for residential or retail development. It could also be used to improve the quality of life, by opening it up to amateur sports like high school or college teams, so that the community gets greater use of the facility. He said northern towns have used them for ice rinks. The parking lots can be used for RV shows and the like.

“It becomes a community forum,” Johnson said.

He said people may travel distances to see a Major League team's spring training games, but they will not for minor league games.

“So you are not going to get 10,000 people a game. They're not going to spill over to the bars and restaurants. A lot will be families that go to the game and then go home,” Johnson said.

He said communities will not get a return dollar-for-dollar on Minor League Baseball.

“That doesn't mean it's not worth it,” Johnson said. “Elected officials should be making decisions whether or not, in their strategic vision for the community, this is going to bring something that meets one of their strategic goals.”

He said in Harrisburg, Pa., one of the goals was to bring suburbanites into town and it worked. People who came into town for the game would stay in town and visit the restaurants.

“That's the type of thing that can happen, even in a small community,” Johnson said.

<p>If the city of Ocala decides to help the Yankees move their Class A-Advanced minor league team here from Tampa, the decision will likely hinge on whether it is a good deal for the community.</p><p>But researchers say Ocala will have to look beyond the team's direct economic impact to make that decision because Minor League Baseball, in itself, does not generate a lot of jobs and doesn't attract millions of fans like a Major League team.</p><p>That doesn't mean Minor League Baseball can't be an economic driver, however.</p><p>A minor league stadium erected in the right location could revitalize an area or open up undeveloped land, both of which could be catalysts for new homes, businesses and jobs, researchers say.</p><p>And having a stadium and a baseball team like the Tampa Yankees could bring some cache to a town and engender civic pride that could be attractive to companies looking to relocate. At the very least, it could provide the community with new, affordable family entertainment and a venue for other events.</p><p>It is those ancillary benefits, researchers say, that may make a community's investment in Minor League Baseball worthwhile, even if it is not a big job creator or money-maker.</p><p>“You're never going to notice it's there economically,” said Roger Knoll, professor emeritus at Stanford University's Department of Economics. “It's too small and too unimportant. A Single A team is lucky if it draws 1,000 (fans) a game. It's not even as big as high school football.”</p><p>■ ■ ■</p><p>The Yankees and the city have been tight-lipped about their discussions to bring a farm team here. Ocala officials have said only that the talks are in the early stages. It is not known where a stadium would be built, who would pay for it or what other commitments of public dollars the Yankees would be asking for.</p><p>But Steve Densa, Minor League Baseball's executive director of communications, said when all the costs and benefits are calculated, minor league teams have a positive impact on communities.</p><p>“A MiLB (Minor League Baseball) club brings money to the area in the form of housing and/or hotel nights for the home club and the visiting one, coaches, scouts, umpires and various Major League personnel who visit each one of their affiliates during the season,” Densa wrote in an email. “There's also business generated for restaurants for these people as well. Other businesses may pop up around the ballpark, which may have not done so if there isn't a stadium. The ballpark is a community asset and can be used to attract other events throughout the year, such as concerts, fairs, holiday events, etc., that add to the quality of life of the community.”</p><p>Attendance at games alone is not a huge money maker, however.</p><p>The Tampa Yankees, like other Class-A minor league teams such as the Lakeland Flying Tigers and the Daytona Cubs, belong to the Florida State League. The Flying Tigers won the Florida State League's championship this year. Attendance at the final championship game at Lakeland's Joker Merchant Stadium, which holds 8,500 spectators, was 400 people.</p><p>“There were 398 and my wife and I,” said Bill Tinsley, the city of Lakeland's liaison to the Tigers and manager of financial resources. “The intent of minor league operations, typically, is that you don't lose money, that you break even and you provide some additional quality of life for your city.”</p><p>Breaking even, he admits, is no guarantee. There are considerable costs to a community, like the $35 million to $40 million price tag to build a minor league stadium</p><p>And Lakeland has an advantage that Ocala would not have if it landed the Tampa Yankees.</p><p>“We're so different because we have spring training, which kind of covers the bills,” Tinsley said. “Spring training is huge.”</p><p>The Yankees are not considering moving their Major League New York Yankees' spring training to Ocala.</p><p>Tinsley said Lakeland “pretty much” breaks even on Minor League Baseball. He said the team and the city share expenses. Lakeland estimates that each Flying Tigers game costs the city $145 for utilities and field maintenance.</p><p>The city receives 15 percent of ticket sales and 15 percent of concessions, or a minimum of $125 a game from the team.</p><p>A minor league ticket costs between $5 and $7, although on nights when a business sponsors a game, a ticket could cost as little as $2. And if Tinsley can rent the stadium when there are no games, he receives $150 or more a night. The Flying Tigers' total 2012 attendance was 59,589. It averaged 1,027 fans a game for the 58 games it played.</p><p>The Flying Tigers do not pay to use the stadium, but the big league team pays Lakeland $325,000 a year to use the stadium for spring training, which helps offset the costs of the minor league team.</p><p>Knoll, of Stanford, said the Lakeland model works because the city uses the stadium for events beyond baseball.</p><p>“There's no real return on that investment to the city itself unless it's going to use that facility for lots of other things,” Knoll said.</p><p>Knoll said that in Stockton, Calif., the stadium is used by the local high schools.</p><p>“It's used almost every day,” he said. “You don't do it because you think it will make you rich but because it will add to the community.”</p><p>■ ■ ■</p><p>Daytona Beach's Jackie Robinson Ballpark is home to the Daytona Cubs, another Class-A team that competes in the Florida State League.</p><p>“If you get the right kind of contract for the stadium, from the city's perspective it's a pretty good deal,” said James Chisholm, Daytona Beach's city manager. “It's been a pretty positive thing for us.”</p><p>He said Minor League Baseball creates about 126 jobs throughout the year and has roughly a $4 million economic impact in the community.</p><p>“The payroll for the Cubs is about $600,000,” Chisholm said. “That's money that gets put right back into Daytona Beach.”</p><p>The city signed a new 10-year lease with the Daytona Cubs effective Jan. 1, 2013, and plans to do a $3 million renovation of the stadium. The first phase of the renovation will cost $1.2 million, split equally between the city and the team.</p><p>Under the new lease, the D-Cubs, as the minor league team is dubbed, will pay the city $55,000 a year to use the stadium, which seats about 4,200 people, with a 1.5 percent annual increase. The city will get 5 percent of the annual gross revenues above $3 million, including ticket sales, concessions, parking fees, advertising, naming rights, subleases or licenses and merchandise sales. The team will pay the stadium expenses, including utilities and maintenance.</p><p>Until this year, the city paid the operating expenses, which were more than $100,000, Chisholm said. The city allows the team to rent the stadium during the offseason.</p><p>In 2012, the D-Cubs' total attendance was 143,131, or an average of 2,346 for 61 games, the second-highest attendance in the league.</p><p>An economic impact study conducted by Daytona officials before they signed the new lease estimated that attendance would increase 8 percent, to 176,023, by 2016. The study also noted that the team contributes to the community through charitable events and numerous programs, such as giving students one free ticket per “A” grade in the third and fourth quarters of the school year.</p><p>Yet Allen Sanderson, senior lecturer at the University of Chicago's Department of Economics, concurred with his academic colleagues who downplay the economics of minor league sports in communities.</p><p>Sanderson, who recently completed a study of sports economics, said having a Minor League Baseball team could put Ocala on the map but will not make much of an economic impact.</p><p>He said having a Minor League Baseball team is not very different from having a giant movie complex.</p><p>“The amount of money spent there by Ocala residents is just money they didn't spend elsewhere in your greater community,” he said.</p><p>One of the reasons the impact is small, he said, is that the baseball team plays there only part of the year, perhaps 70 games out of 365 days.</p><p>“A mall can't make it if it's open 20 percent of the time,” Sanderson said.</p><p>That doesn't mean a team doesn't have value to the community, he added. People like to live in cities because of the entertainment and recreation and other amenities, he said.</p><p>“A Minor League Baseball team fits into the fabric of the community,” he said. “It's one more thing for people to do on an afternoon.”</p><p>But claims that a community will make a bundle of money from a Minor League Baseball team are false, Sanderson said.</p><p>“A lot of times it's sold this way,” he said. “Keep your hands on your wallet.”</p><p>Arthur T. Johnson, University of Maryland's professor emeritus in the Fishell Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland, says Minor League Baseball can be an economic driver for a community if it meets the community's strategic goals.</p><p>Johnson, who published his research on Minor League Baseball in 1996, found there are ways a community can benefit economically from Minor League Baseball. He is the author of the book “Minor League Baseball and Local Economic Development.”</p><p>“If it's going to be a successful economic driver, the location of the stadium is going to be very important,” Johnson said. “Communities have used the stadium to bolster a dying downtown or as part of a redevelopment project or to open new lands for development.”</p><p>He said a stadium could be used as an entry point for residential or retail development. It could also be used to improve the quality of life, by opening it up to amateur sports like high school or college teams, so that the community gets greater use of the facility. He said northern towns have used them for ice rinks. The parking lots can be used for RV shows and the like.</p><p>“It becomes a community forum,” Johnson said.</p><p>He said people may travel distances to see a Major League team's spring training games, but they will not for minor league games.</p><p>“So you are not going to get 10,000 people a game. They're not going to spill over to the bars and restaurants. A lot will be families that go to the game and then go home,” Johnson said.</p><p>He said communities will not get a return dollar-for-dollar on Minor League Baseball.</p><p>“That doesn't mean it's not worth it,” Johnson said. “Elected officials should be making decisions whether or not, in their strategic vision for the community, this is going to bring something that meets one of their strategic goals.”</p><p>He said in Harrisburg, Pa., one of the goals was to bring suburbanites into town and it worked. People who came into town for the game would stay in town and visit the restaurants.</p><p>“That's the type of thing that can happen, even in a small community,” Johnson said.</p><p><i>Contact Susan Latham Carr at susan.carr@starbanner.com.</i></p>